Virtually any way you want to slice it up, a painting, drawing or photograph that measures no more than 20 square inches in size is unusually small.

Ditto for any 3-dimensional work that can fit within a cube of 4.5 inches.

But inside the newest exhibit at Hampton's Charles H. Taylor Arts Center, these sorts of figures can only be found on the largest pieces of art, while many, many others in this collection of nearly 400 images and objects shrink to less than 1 inch in stature.

And though a great majority of these miniatures rank as relatively simple exercises in squeezing something little out of something else, scores of others throw such ambition into this dramatic and potentially fertile change of scale that you can't help but stop and take notice.

That's certainly the case with Williamsburg studio-glass artist Emilio Santini, who is internationally renowned for producing flame-worked vessels of unusual daring, complexity and magnitude. In "Small Works: Miniatures by Hampton Roads Artists," however, he demonstrates convincingly that you don't have to think big to come up with something great.

Not only does his tiny "Still Life" glass sculpture reduce the size of a tall-footed fruit bowl to that of a thimble but it then skillfully — almost breathtakingly, in fact — fills it up with more than a dozen bananas, bunches of grapes, peppers and apples.

Dressed up in bright, vibrant colors, this eye-catching arrangement of organic shapes pops against the glossy black of Santini's bowl, creating a compelling abstract composition in a space hardly larger than the face of a copper penny.

And while purists may ache for more ambitious thought and meaning, sometimes the demonstration of seemingly impossible skill has an irresistible aesthetic impact all its own.

"This is the third year in a row that he's won the first-place award — and that's from three different judges," says center director James Warwick Jones.

"It's almost a miracle that he can make things this small."

Such transformative magic is one of the key reasons why "Small Works" — which features a wide range of paintings, photographs and other pieces by more than 150 artists — ranks as a perennial favorite among Hampton Roads museum-goers.

With so many ranks of double- and triple-hung works filling the art center's walls, moreover, it's one of the largest shows the region has to offer every year, giving viewers an unusually large number of things to look at and ponder.

Among the many standouts here is Hampton photographer Lynn Allred's diminutive black-and-white nude figure studies, which use an uncommonly small 3-by-4-inch scale to underscore the intimate nature of his simple yet compelling subjects.

Shadowy lighting adds to the striking sense of mystery in each portrait, as does the young woman's shrouded, slightly turned figure and the shock of dark hair that obscures her face.

In "342 Kernels of Popcorn," Norfolk photographer Ed Gibbs makes you look twice, too, drawing you into his image with a regular, row-by-row pattern of barely recognizable shapes that's clever, visual and humorous all at once.

Don't be surprised if this tiny, 3.5-inch photo attracts you with its curiously animated, almost pictographic forms long before you realize what you're looking at.

Smithfield artist Laura Tovar Dietrick's "Little Green Apples" oil painting has a similar effect, crowding a line of five beautifully rendered yet not-quite-recognizable green orbs against a bright red background in a tiny canvas teeming with vibrant colors, abstract shapes and the play of light and shadow.

Millimeter for millimeter, it's an exceptionally strong effort — one that rivals many larger works when it comes to the simple power to turn heads.

Good things come in small packages at Hampton's Charles H. Taylor Arts Center, where more than 150 artists from across the region embraced the challenge of making paintings, drawings and sculpture on a very, very small scale. The collection of nearly 400 works runs through Dec. 2. -- Mark St. John...